Group's message: Ride your bicycles
“Think outside the car” is the motto of a newly formed group advocating for people to use alternatives to four-wheeled modes of transportation.
Quad-Cities Transportation Advocacy Group, or QC TAG, was joined by 26 other bicyclists for an awareness ride around the Quad-Cities Saturday morning. Each participating bike sported a bright yellow “Share the Streets” sign under the seat.
QC TAG is made up of about 25 people who count themselves as environmentalists, health advocates or those who want to see neighborhoods become more neighborly.
Member Jeff Cornelius dubbed Saturday’s ride as his group’s “coming out party.” The event had two 10-mile rides that started from downtown Davenport, one through Davenport and the other through Rock Island.
The two municipalities were chosen because they both made recent strides in making urban biking friendlier, Cornelius said.
Rock Island created bike lanes on parts of 7th Avenue and 17th Street, and Davenport posted “Share the Road” signs on Main Street after making a new link off Duck Creek Parkway’s path at Fair Avenue.
“People exit at Fair, go around Vander Veer Park, and ride down Main Street to the Mississippi River path,” Cornelius said.
Dean Mayne, president of the Quad-City Bicycle Club (QCBC), gave safety tips before each ride, advising bicyclists to act like a car: Abide by the rules of the road and give yourself a lot of space.
The event also featured a Davenport city bus at Ripley Street near the Mississippi River bike trail to demonstrate how to use the bike racks on public buses and to give interested people public transportation maps.
Becky Passman, Iowa Quad-Cities transit coordinator, educates people about using public transit, especially in combination with bicycling. Racks on Davenport and Bettendorf city buses each accommodate two bikes.
“People see how incredibly simple it is. Once you do, you’ll say, ‘Well, that’s not so hard.’ It’s a matter of trying it,” she said.
Before heading out on the second ride to Rock Island, Lisa Davis of Moline for the first time placed her bicycle on the front rack of a city bus Saturday morning. “There’s a little learning curve,” she said after making a false start hooking in her front tire, “but it’s pretty basic and easy.”
Dan McNeil, another founding member of QC TAG, said he uses the bike/bus option when he’s heading home from Davenport to Moline some days “if I don’t feel like tackling the hill on the way home,” he laughed.
But he said the buses are a good option for anyone. “The bus is not just for those who can’t drive. It’s a smart option for those wanting to reduce their carbon footprint.”
Passman said all of the Bettendorf bus routes bring passengers right to the bike trails, and eight of Davenport’s do.
Cornelius said QC TAG’s purpose is to show people that biking or using other transportation can be incorporated into daily living.
“Bikes are transportation, not just recreation,” he said. “We chose the routes we did to show people how they can bike to the stores, major employers and bike paths. We want people to get ideas from this to incorporate into their individual lives.”
QC TAG started as a group of biking commuters who met during the Bike to Work Week in May. During the summer, the group started meeting over coffee, McNeil said. They became QC TAG because they wanted to expand the mission beyond simply biking to work.
McNeil hasn’t made it that far into the conversion. “We have a car that’s just parked there,” he said. “We’re waiting to see if we can do this.”
Karen and Dennis Baber of East Moline, members of QCBC, said if more people biked, society might be better natured. “When you’re in a car, you’re boxed in, anonymous,” Karen Baber said. “Bicyclists are friendly. You’re just going to be when you’re out in the open.”
“Car driving seems like a competition. Everyone’s goal seems to be to get in front of you,” Dennis Baber added. “Biking is fun. It’s life at a more natural pace.”
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